Should jobs be able to check your credit history?

I really think that it depends on the job. if you are going to be a kindergarten teacher, I do not see where financial mistakes are going to make a difference in how you teach, however, if you were applying for job as a financial institution that could make a difference. Currently, i feel that it is just another invasion of privacy.

I do not agree that perspective employers should be able to do this. It seems unfair that they should be able to make a judgment call on you from this. A credit report doesnt really tell them about who you are as a person. They have no idea how you got the bad report really. It becomes a call based on assumptions.

I think it depends on the kind of job you are applying for. For me, if it's something that has something to do with Financials or investments, then I'd rather that the person who will work in my company would have a clean record of bill. Just like getting clearances from the NBI (National Bureau of Investigation) before getting inside a job, it's like making sure that the employee doesn't have any criminal records prior the employment. You see, if you will be involved in a company where it has a lot to deal about money (loans, amortizations, insurances, etc.) the client must be able to trust you with their money and the company must know if you'd be tempted to run-off or not. I have a friend who is employed by one of the biggest financial services multi-national company in our country, he was hired as a programmer, but he was checked thoroughly including his finances and his lifestyle. I think they have to make sure that he doesn't have lifestyles that don't fit his finances so as not to be tempted to start stealing. However, if the job is not related to finances, I don't think it's appropriate to look into our historical financial records. Though, if there's a need to because of some impediments why not? Though, it's actually discriminating those who have made bad mistakes in the past because the company might not be interested to hiring them because of what happened several years back (which could be absurd if the incident is too long ago or too petty). But hey, beggars can't be complainers. We're all beggars for work these days. Have a great MyLot experience today!

hi, for me i think that credit is not really related to job so that when a company will hire people they should not base to the credit history of a person and also its a privacy part of a one person.its hard to find work and have many people still unemployed so that they should never base on credit history and give another chance for that person.

That is because the corporate machine does not want to hire many people at all. They are only worried about profit each and every quarter. If they hire people and pay a fair wage, it hurts their bottom line. I agree it is not fair to do credit checks on someone. We are not allowed to check them out or question them. Shouldn't be fair both ways.

I don't have bad credit, but I think it's wrong for companies to check credit history to determine if they should hire someone or not. I understand the reasoning but I think it's wrong. People do deserve second chances and allowing companies to this is basically an invasion of privacy if you ask me. I can bet several companies have lost a lot of great employees by following this policy. Best Wishes!

Unfortunately they can now, but I don't think that is right. I think that, that is something that is personal. Do I really want my boss to be all up in my business knowing about my past credit history, and what does it really have to do with the job anyways. Sure it shows responsibility, but things happen to people in life that are out of their hands that could cause credit issues. I don't think they should be able to see it. I think it should be private.

Well, I could understand employers doing it, in some cases. It would make sense that they would in some cases, but I don't think that they should all do it. In most cases, it just wouldn't make sense to do this. I don't think that it would necessarily be fair, or understandable.

I also think its pretty unfair... especially if its used as an eliminator. Like, so many people applied for the job so we'll check everyone's credit history and only the people who have good credit get to go to the next round. I assume the people with bad credit need a job more than the people with good credit, and just because someone has bad credit doesn't mean they're a bad person or bad for the job. They probably just ran into bad times like most of us.

I don't think that credit history should be necessary infprmation for your employer unless your job duties require it. It is an invasion of your privacy outside of the job. the way you take care of your finances does not necessarily show in your professional life as well/.

I have worked as a Medical Business Administrator and my credit gets checked often. Though you are right that it may not be fair but the reasoning behind that they do is that they want to be able to entrust an employee who can handle their own finances. They figure if an employee cannot manage and handle their own they will not be able to manage a company's finances. Does not seem fair especially if an well organized financial planner lost their previous job but unfortunately this is the reason they always check. But you are right everyone deserves a second chance and it is not about their own money but more so about their skill. So perhaps more emphasis should be placed on their work history and work references more so then their credit.

I really don't think that would be necessary. What for? Does it matter if you had bad credit? I myself have no credits at all, well, except to my parents and God... but I don't think credits affect the work performance or efficiency of anyone...

I agree with you. I do not think it's fair. Doing a background check for criminal history, yes that's fair because that was your choice to do those illegal things. Sometimes when your credit goes bad, it's not that you choose not to pay things it's that you cannot afford to. That is NOT anyone's fault in my opinion. My husband has been turned down for a few jobs because he has bad credit and I think it's terrible! He has bad credit because he cannot find a job to pay things on time!! DUH. Because no one wants to hire him with bad credit... It's an awful circle and we are never going to have good credit if he can't get a job, more and more things are going to end up on his report. Makes absolutely NO sense at all.